Why is Beijing Full of Fluffy Dogs Wearing VR Cameras Right Now?
On March 5, the Fifth Session of the 12th National People’s Congress (NPC) kicked off at the Great Hall of People in Beijing. Outside, a swarm of eagle-eyed policemen and Beijing’s own canine unit were on duty, securing the venue from any threats to the peace – nothing unusual with this scene, except that a number of police dogs were kitted out with virtual reality (VR) cameras strapped on their backs and the policemen were assigned head-mounted goggles.
During the annual parliamentary sessions between the NPC and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, giving the event its colloquial name of the Two Meetings "lianghui," it is customary that Beijing's security goes into overdrive. The knock-on effect is that the city can feel somewhat tense as additional guards roam the streets, MRT stations, parks, and shopping malls, as you might've spotted along your regular commute.
This year however marks the first time that VR technology has been used by Beijing's fluffy and adorable police dogs (who may or may not be trained to rip you to shreds should you do anything wrong, we weren't able to verify this part).
VR technology has so far traditionally extended to uses within entertainment, gaming, and uhh ... porn, but we're gradually seeing the government's forays into other uses such as security.
VR's coupling with dogs in the security sector is an arguably ingenious – albeit fairly lazy on the part of the human masters – way to cover lots of ground. The panoramic VR cameras also offer a wider view of the surroundings, increasing policemen's visual scope. Of course without having tried them ourselves we can't speak for how well the technology works but we could imagine that motion sickness would be a slight issue, especially if our trusted K9 sniffs out a fallen jianbing in the line of duty.
It is unknown if the use of VR technology is a one-time thing or for special government gatherings, but this may just be the (fluffy) future of security.
